A direct air route linking the eastern Chinese City of Hangzhou and Melbourne in Australia has been launched, marking the establishment of a new round-trip flight route from Hangzhou to Oceania.

The first flight on the route took off from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport at around 4 p.m. on Sunday, with over 330 passengers on board.

Outbound flights, with flight number JD385, depart from Hangzhou every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 3:55 p.m. local time, and arrive in Melbourne at 5 a.m. local time the next day.

Inbound flights, with flight number JD386, depart from Melbourne at 7 a.m. local time every Monday, Thursday and Saturday and arrive in Hangzhou at 3:55 p.m. local time the same day.

"The launch of the direct flight between Hangzhou and Melbourne will save passengers four to seven hours of transfer time, and the load factor is expected to exceed 80%," said Fan Yingying, an executive from the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport Co., Ltd.

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province, a manufacturing and trade hub in east China.

China has been Australia's largest trading partner, export market and import source for 15 consecutive years, since 2009. In 2023, bilateral trade in goods increased 4.1% year on year, while Australian investment in China increased 11.7% compared to the previous year. China is also the main importer of agricultural and mineral products from Australia.